are hospitalized with covid right now than in the state s previous peak back in july of 2020. also this hour, the legislative victory lap for democrats continues. senate democrats just passing that $3.5 trillion budget overnight. passed along party lines, above other things it will expand medicare eligibility. we re also watching this podium because we expect to see and hear from senate majority leader chuck schumer about it. remember the once promising negotiations on a police reform bill? we just got a new interview with a key negotiator. so what s the hold up? we ll explain in a few moments. we start with a surge in covid cases across the country. shannon pettymiss is there. dasha burns is in east tennessee, and there are already dozens of positive cases among students and staff. alison barber is in a state that has just run out of icu beds. and i want to bring in a doctor. a big thanks to all of you, shannon let s start with you. 15 minutes or so from now president bide l
right around the corner for us. though the worst days of this dark winter are still very much right now and ahead of us, as the u.s. continues to shatter record after record every single day when it comes to new coronavirus infections, deaths and hospitalizations all across this country. today, though, there s tangible help. the news forms the back drop of the juxtaposition to two polar opposite positions. from the lameduck donald trump and his successor president-elect joe biden. on the trump side, fumbling already over the rollout and availability of the vaccine. a report in today s new york times says trump s administration passed on the chance to lock in more vaccine supplied for the united states when they had the chance to do that this summer before the vaccine was proven effect oivef which now raises questions allowed the united states to take its place in first in line, a blow to the president to put the united states at the front of the line. this afternoon he issu
the covid pandemic took the lives of 800,000 fellow americans with three free vaccines out there and for the first time in humanpublicans ac of those who refuse to take the shot. we had an actual insurrection which we re under an investigation and resulted in 700 arrests and prosecutions, just not of anyone at the top. none of the presumed planners have been charged with anything including donald trump. the u.s. became a declining democracy in 2021 because of the trump coup attempt and a large chunk of the republicans essentially dropped its support for democracy in favor of ruling this country by any means necessary passing hundreds of jim crow style laws that attempt to block any voters who likely wouldn t vote republican from the polls, mainly black and brown voters of course enacting bizarre redistricting maps and even empowering local republicans to overturn lawful elections. and so we re confronted as we start this new year with two very different concepts of citizenshi
again, happy new year. but there s also some good news here. i m going to get to that in a moment. first let me tell you the caseload as we begin our week. the u.s. now has more cases than ever before. you can see the peak. you can see how much higher it is than any other point. we re averaging 40,000 daily cases. covid spread continues to rattle public safety, daily life in the economy. just today over 2,000 flights canceled, most of them covid related and some weather. the persistence and exposure of covid is now as prevalent as ever. in most parts of the united states this is not a time for moving on or forgetting the virus and safety precautions we ve been living through for so long. i also want to tell you tonight, as we begin another night together thank you for being here. while covid don t care about our calendar and covid don t care about new year s. one thing covid does still care about is vaccines. the vaccines continue to work against covid and delta and the lat
nbc news, of course, has reached out to the supreme court which has no comment at this time. in the last hour, republican senator susan collins sharing reaction calling this decision inconsistent with what justices neil gorsuch and brett kavanaugh both nominated and confirmed to the court in recent years said in their confirmation hearings, and in her private meetings with them before she agreed to vote for them. we ll be going live to capitol hill. also ahead, i ll talk with drk congresswoman cory bush who shared firsthand the emotional weight of deciding to get an abortion. her reaction and what it means for a woman s right to choose. joint base andrews, a source familiar with the matter telling nbc news that the president is expected to make brief remarks in the wake of the politico leak at jba before heading to alabama. he s left the white house. so expect that in about 15 minutes at motorcade speed to joint base andrews. joining me is nbc s ali vitali on capitol hill,